Rise of the Guardians: Beginning of the End
by Mysterie1985
Summary: [WARNING: minor m/m] Who could have predicted this? That this would be what would be the end of the Guardians? It isn't Pitch... it isn't global warming... it isn't even all the lies that are told amongst the adults... How could any of them have known? Least of all Jack?
1. Prologue

"I'm sorry Jamie... I... I can't. It can't work out."

"I know I'll die someday, but Jack... please..."

"I'm sorry... the others... they'd never accept this and... I just can't."

"Is this because of their rules?"

"No... but... the rules aren't wrong. Please try to understand." He couldn't believe what he was hearing. Jack wouldn't even give it a chance... He just stared at the one who had been his best friend for so long... He felt numb inside. Jack stared at him a moment before giving him a sad look.

"Don't give me that look. Jamie... I'm sorry... this is the way it has to be." Jamie closed his eyes.

"So be it. Frost." Jack stared with wide eyes as Jamie's eyes opened to meet his. Jamie had NEVER called him that before. He watched as the teenager turned and simply walked away.

Had he made a mistake? No... he couldn't help it, he couldn't... simply didn't feel like that towards Jamie and even if he did... Jamie was mortal. It wouldn't work. Wouldn't last. Jack was a spirit and couldn't simply indulge his young friend.


	2. A Nightmare Arises

Jack woke in a cold sweat. Pitch had been gone for years, sure there were the rogue Night Mares about every now and then but something had woken him that was more than that. He sighed as he leaned his head against his knees. A dream. He'd had it before... ever since it had happened actually. Jack sighed quietly. His friend had passed years ago. Time was nothing to an immortal spirit and he missed Jamie dearly, but he knew those last years... before the accident that had robbed his best believer of his life... had been different. Something had been off and Jack never knew what it was. The boy had become withdrawn from even him and when asked he'd brushed the winter spirit off. Jack had talked to the others who had simply all told him the same thing - the boy was growing up and it might soon be time for him to move on with life and forget them. Jamie never had though. Up to his dying moment he had looked at Jack and saw him. Jack shuddered, he didn't want to remember but there was nothing to stop it.

 _Jack knelt next to the teen... there was so much blood... He didn't even notice as the seventeen year old met his gaze though the blood pooled around them from the injuries the boy sustained from being thrown aside by the vehicle that had hit him._

"I will keep my promise. You have not seen the last of me." _He stared at the teen even as he was helpless to do anything more than ice over wounds; it wasn't enough..._

"Stay with me Jamie... please..." _He murmured brokenly as he held the teen against him, tears streaming down his face, freezing into tiny droplets._

"I loved you."

"I know."

Jack shuddered... he still wondered even now if he'd made a mistake by telling Jamie no that fateful day... It had been only a year before the accident. Why had Jamie said those things? He turned it over in his mind even as a few froze drops fell into the snow below. What had his friend meant? He let out a sigh and sought out Sandy. This was the second time tonight. Why did this continue to haunt him? He hoped that the Guardian of Dreams would have some answers for him.

"Sandy?" The little Guardian turned from him, the expression of the other told him that something was up.

"What's wrong?" Sandy pointed to a moth he'd made and Jack frowned, he wasn't sure he followed. Sandy beckoned him to follow it. So he and the other Guardian did. It fluttered into a window to a girl and it became a large butterfly that was beautiful and Jack frowned.

"Um, okay... I don't get it." Sandy made a second image, this time it was of Jack. He sent the image to the girl, Jack watched as it floated over to her; what happened next made his jaw drop. The image of him was warped and became dark and cold... like a Night Mare... but not. The sand didn't become a Night Mare but it turned black as the sand Pitch had used.

"Wha... what's going on?!" Sandy shrugged and Jack didn't need him to interpret for him to understand that they needed to talk to the others.

"Yeah... We should talk to them." Sandy followed behind Jack off towards the North Pole. What could be causing this? Was this another thing of Pitch's? The two were a little surprised to find that the others were already at the pole and that North was hovering over the emergency lever but he paused when Bunny called out.

"No need mate! They're here!"

"Jack! Sandy! Good timing!" North's expression said though that he was worried. Jack began to realize that it wasn't just Sandy who had noticed things. The rest of the workshop was still noisy as normal, but Tooth seemed worried too as she looked up at Jack, Baby Tooth was sitting in her hands instead of flying about. Something was REALLY wrong...

"Guys... what's going on?!"

"Ve don't know... Ve think Manny have answers." They gathered around the the plaques that were of each one of the Guardians, there was even one for Jack now amongst the others though it looked a little off balance having his slotted next to Sandy's because the other places next to the others were still just wooden boards, but Jack shook this away as the moon's light filtered in and they watched silently as a figure appeared in shadows.

"That's... not Pitch." Jack said quietly. None of them knew who the figure belonged to, then the shadows changed and Jack watched with a sense of horror growing inside him as he saw what looked like a boy with a little white heart on his chest and himself. The boy hugged Jack who then pushed him away and the boy then grew to a teenager and the heart that had been white grew dark and the shadow of him flew off. It couldn't be... Jack shook away the doubts. No. It wasn't. It had to be someone else... but who? When the shadows faded Jack looked up, the others were looking at him expectantly.

"What?"

"Jack... you know who it is... don't you?" Jack shook his head.

"I wish I did. I can't remember everyone I've come in contact with over the years... there are a lot of kids I've played with."

"Ya don't think it's -"

"No. It's not him. He never would." Jack cut Bunny off harshly. They stared at him in surprise but he didn't care.

"He's gone, okay? Yes, it still hurts but I'm fine. He was the strongest believer. Always. You can't seriously think it's him!" They glanced amongst themselves, there was uncertainty a moment before North shook his head.

"You are right Jack. Ve jumping to conclusion. Best find what can." Bunny nodded.

"I'll see what I can do mates. Gonna be hard though. Maybe Mother Nature can help." With that he was gone down one of his tunnels. North walked off as a yeti warbled at him and Sandy had dozed off but Tooth was looking at Jack with worry.

"Jack... maybe you should hear what I learned from Baby Tooth. She believes she saw who is doing this. The others already heard about it." Jack nodded and Tooth began telling him what it was she'd seen through Baby Tooth's eyes...

 _Sandy's sand turned black as she was carrying the tooth from the pillow. Her little eyes went wide as a mutated sand version of the five Guardians flew at her. The sand Tooth's wings had become jagged batwings and she'd bore claws on her hands and feet, a beak full of sharp teeth snapped at her. North's hadn't changed much but the blades he'd carried became wicked looking and sharper as they'd swung at her; Sandy's own form had twisted into a taller and thinner version with claws and red eyes, they'd all had red eyes... the one that had been Bunny seemed to grow larger slightly and had sharp claws and teeth. The last was, to her, the most horrific. The figure of Jack had a jagged staff that dripped with ice blades on the end and along the hook and his mouth had been filled with razor sharp teeth. Baby Tooth had flitted out and away as fast as she could, but she'd still been hit and had dropped as one of her wings had been clipped by the dark sand. Fortunately one of her sisters had been nearby and had helped her fly back to the Tooth Palace, but not before she'd gotten a glimpse of a figure in shadows with piercing dark eyes in a black robe._

Jack turned from Tooth, looking at the globe as something had caught his eye; much to his dawning horror he began to realize why North had almost hit the emergency lever to call him and Sandy to the pole. The lights... they were winking out. Jack wondered about how Bunny had known, but he dismissed it. That wasn't important... there went another one... one by one... Jack felt his heart tighten in his chest because he knew that with each light that went out the Guardians were less powerful... He still remembered what had happened when they'd been down to just one... before he'd officially been a Guardian. This wouldn't affect him but the others... Belief was what kept them going and had been for a long time. Without its power... North was just an old man... Tooth was a flightless birdwoman... and Bunny was just a normal rabbit... Sandy... well, he didn't know what would happen to their oldest member if all belief was gone. Would he vanish again? Would he still be around like Jack? Jack wasn't sure he wanted to find out.


	3. A Monster Made

Darkness. It was his only companion now. Eyes that had once shone with light now watched with a dark glee as more sand was corrupted. Anger burned against them. The Guardians. One in particular. A dark grin spread across the features hidden by the shadows of the night. His quiet laughter unheard as the boy in the bed shivered as the figure of Jack Frost became a monster... It was so easy! Too easy... Oh he knew they'd eventually come after him, but for now he was simply having fun. Fun. Who would have ever thought that he would enjoy something like this after what he had begun as? Oh, he hadn't forgotten a thing. In fact, it was because of Jack that his anger ran so hot against the Guardians and what had once been now had soured into darkness. The gentle words of the past had been shattered in a single instant and the boy had been no more. Instead was a young adult who didn't have time to fully cope... to turn away from the eyes the taunted him the day and haunted him in the night... Now he WAS the night... He laughed a little. Oh how easy this was... belief was such a fragile thing... He closed his eyes, soaking up the silence of the night and the sound of the whimper of the child drove away those haunting eyes that he would never forget. Could never forget. He left the bedroom of the child who, even had he woken would not see the figure that slipped from the room and went right through the window. He was belief itself now... or maybe he would have been... he had control over it and he would punish those who had wronged him. Who had torn his world away. He had only wanted something so simple... something so pure... and it had been denied from him because he'd been human. He wasn't human anymore. He smirked, running his tongue along the fangs in his mouth... the normal canines that every human possessed had grown when he'd woken. Not to an uncomfortable length, but enough that he had noticed the difference and he kind of liked it honestly. There was something so... primal about it that gave him a tingling sense of joy and a certain thrill like nothing else. A full year he had been around and they had not noticed him. Oh he'd been surprised when he'd found that everyone walked through him... and it had been... uncomfortable of an experience really, but not painful. He had looked for familiar faces but there were none to be found. He'd even visited the frozen pond but Jack hadn't been there and he'd no idea where the other Guardians had their bases exactly. Not that it mattered; he wasn't going to hurt them... much. They'd bounce back after this but oh Jack... no. Once the winter spirit found out who he was... who was the cause of this... He wanted to see the look on the winter spirit's face when the realization hit him.

"I'm not him anymore... I haven't been in a good while... so how should I introduce myself? I need a new name..." He said to himself, after all there was no one around to hear him. For a brief moment he wished he could go back... that he could stop this, but the moment didn't last more than a few seconds. He couldn't go back now. Just like Jack couldn't take back what he'd said... wouldn't take it back. This was the way things had to be. Jack had said as much himself hadn't he?

"I hope you realize that you began all of this, Jack." He looked up at the full moon with a small smirk.

"Really think you know it all, don't you? Sitting there, watching everything unfold while you do nothing to stop it. Sending others to do your dirty work. You can't save them. You can't change what's about to happen and they can't either." He laughed as the shadows lengthened around him. He stepped back into their embrace moments before a certain winter spirit arrived.

It couldn't be true... it just couldn't. He knew Manny wasn't wrong, had never been wrong about anything really... after all, he'd even warned Jack that he couldn't stop the future that would be Jamie's if he didn't back away from the boy. Jack had refused to see it at the time but little by little he had and he'd withdrawn a little more from the boy who had grown older and older... He had began to see the changes in Jamie and the boy he had once known, or thought he had known, had been growing into a man. Something Jack would never be able to do. He was stuck, forever, as a teenager because of the choice he had made; he never regretted that he had saved his sister... that he had taken her place on the thin ice that day... but there were other things he regretted. He'd never grow up. He'd never have a family of his own. Not that the Guardians weren't family, but it wasn't the same. He would never know what it was like to have to care for the well being of others... to have children of his own... he would never marry... he could never fall in love... never have his first kiss or experience the bliss that he knew adults did behind closed doors. He was forever barred from such experiences because he had died young. His body no longer craved those things... as frozen as the ice in the arctics. Forever in a state of youth, but never providing any warmth; he didn't have a heartbeat and he'd had nothing to offer his young believer when the boy had confessed his feelings. Jack sighed as he searched the area for any signs of anyone besides himself; even Pitch would have been a welcome sight because he really wanted this to just be a bad dream or some trick of Pitch's but no... it hadn't been Pitch. At least Manny hadn't said it was. Jack didn't want to believe it could be what North and the others had been seeming to suggest. He paused when he came to the cemetery... it had been a year since he'd been here. He normally came only on the anniversary of his friend's death and he alighted next to the tombstone. Had he lived... Jamie would have likely had a family by now... he would have been in his forties. Jack knelt before the tomb and made a carnation from his ice and set it before the grave.

"Jamie... I wish you were here. I know you'd want to help if you knew what was going on... I know you'd keep your promise even now. That if you were alive..." Jack choked on the word before he managed to go on.

"That... you'd... want to do anything you could to help us. Just like you saved us all that Easter. I miss you so much... I'm sorry about that day... I wish I could take it back, but it wouldn't have amounted to anything anyway. For either of us. You knew that..." Jack sighed.

"I wish I would have told you, though... that I... I love you. I do. I always have... I just wish I'd been able to tell you when I had the chance..." Jack rested his head against the marble stone, weeping quietly. He hadn't thought he had loved like that... but it was true. Somehow he'd fallen in love with the teenager in those last few years. He wasn't sure when he had, but he loved Jamie.

"I wish he'd brought you back..." He murmured brokenly as the tears fell only to freeze and fall onto the cold ground; snow slowly began to fall around him but Jack didn't notice. He never noticed anymore really. Nothing had been the same since Jamie had died in his arms. He had broke... he never would have been able to bring snow again if it hadn't been for Sophie... his oldest believer now who was in her thirties. She was the first adult to be their believer that any of them knew of... _It should have been you Jamie... YOU should have been the first adult to believe in us... not her... not your baby sister... not anyone else... You..._ Jack thought as he sobbed his heart out quietly against the cold stone. The stone and the silence offered no comfort to the grieving winter spirit.


	4. Dark Revelation

The lights were going out so fast... Faster than when Pitch had taken out Sandy. Now there were only a handful left... all in the United States too. The Guardians had spread out to seek out the one causing all of this with little luck; however, there had been a message left on the globe in those remaining lights: Where it began

So now all the Guardians were searching all of Burgess, none of them remembered exactly where that battle had taken place but Jack remembered something from it.  
"Maybe they meant the town square." The group wasn't disappointed this time to find a figure draped in a black robe.

"You! You cause zhis!" North accused the figure who turned from a life-sized jaded version of Jack. A single nod was the answer.

"Why?" The question was out before anyone realized it and it had been Tooth who had spoken.

"Ask him."

"That voice... I know that voice mates." Bunny said and Jack did too. He froze, staring.

"I'm glad you still recognize me. I should be honored... the Big Five remember little old me. Not that I was really anyone special was I... Frost?" Jack shuddered.

"No... that's... not true..." The four stared at him, wondering what in the world this was all about as the figure pushed back the hood with one hand. Black hair and pale skin did little to hide who he was. Who he had been when he'd been alive. His eyes were just as beautiful of a chocolate as Jack remembered and he felt his heart seem to stop... as if it had been beating to begin with. His eyes wide as he felt like everything he'd ever worked for... everything he'd ever done... was gone. This had to be some nightmare... because he simply could not be staring into the face of the boy he loved so dearly... his first believer.

"J... Jamie." His voice was weak, as if he'd been choked. No one else spoke then. None of them knew what to say as the winter spirit fell to his knees, the staff clattering beside him; for a moment all was silent and then the four took a step back as a piercing wail of pure and utter despair came from their comrade. There was nothing they could do... or say... and their former strong believer had taken that chance to leave; to let it all sink in that the Brightest Light was not bright anymore... It couldn't be true... it just couldn't... Jack trembled as his body seemed to completely give out on him and darkness stole away his conscious mind. The other four shared a sorrowful look and Bunny was the one who carried Jack back to the pole.

"You knew something about this, didn't ya mate?" Bunny asked once the four of them were back in the globe room after he'd settled Jack in a spare room. North sighs.

"Da. I felt change in boy when he stopped wishing to see Jack; was odd, but I thought maybe he just grow up. Did not realize boy come to hate us."

"Why would he hate us?" Tooth asked, confused.

"He fall in love with Jack." Came the answer, the other three stared at North in disbelief.

"Against all odds. He and Jack were close, was bound to be likely since Jack always go to play with boy since that Easter." Bunny nodded a little.

"Jack will not take this well. Jamie mean much to him. To find out Jamie iz one destroying everything..."

"Yeah... I know somethin' of the feelin' mate. It's hard." Bunny murmured, his ears drooped.

"So, what are we going to do? How did he get such power like that? I mean, not even Pitch could make the lights go out so quickly... and not without taking out my faires."

"Iz question I have no answer for."

"I... think I might know." Bunny said slowly. The others looked at Bunny.

"You saw how fast they went out right? Well... when they went out that Easter it was 'cuz they lost hope when Sandy was taken out because they were plagued with Night Mares. This time isn't the case. I've seen what he's done same as you mates... he's twisted belief itself... that's why."

"How is that possible? Without belief we'll..." Tooth trailed off, her eyes widening and she landed; more lights had gone out and she felt even weaker.

"Ya... I know mates. He hates us something fierce and he's getting back at us for somethin'. I dunno what... but I imagine frostbite might know." North nods.

"Da... he know... and so do I. I promise not to tell but don't think will matter now." The other three looked at one another then at North.

"When boy was fourteen, three years before death, he confess to Jack; Jack had seen signs and had talked to me about it and what rules were." The others nodded, they all knew it wasn't wise to get too invested in mortals in any sense of the terms; love was the most dangerous of those because of how it could affect how they did their jobs. It was bad enough Jack had gotten attached to Jamie because the kid had been his first believer.

"Jack turn him down. I do not know what he say to boy, but that was start of things. I fear boy was hurt deeply and carry grudge from that life into this. Why against us can only guess. Saying go that love and hate two sides of same coin."

"What are you saying North?"

"He's saying that Jamie's affections for Jack ran so deep that when he didn't get what he wanted... he began to hate 'em. That his love turned sour." Tooth's eyes widened.

"What... what do we do?"

"Not much we can. This is between them, much as I want to help it's not really a matter we can just fix. We have ta take the bloke out... and Jackie ain't gonna like that." Sandy nodded sadly, his symbols flashing over his head.

 _None of us will. Jamie was our strongest believer. It is hard to see him have fallen so far when he was such a bright soul._ The others nodded sadly. None of them really wanted to do this, but what choice was there? They couldn't just let him ruin belief just because the boy held a grudge against them and Jack. Like Bunny had said, though, it wasn't something they could fix so easily. They were pretty weak as it was now; it didn't help that Easter wasn't until next year and Christmas was months away... they didn't have the luxury of a holiday to help inspire hope and belief anymore and Tooth's fairies were losing the power to fly. Tooth herself, it was obvious, was having trouble herself. There was no longer enough belief to allow her to fly. The group stared at the globe, only six lights remained and it wasn't enough to sustain them.

"Not again..." Bunny groaned as he nearly collapsed; nothing more than a harmless Bunny now. Sandy looked at his friends in worry; he was unaffected because Jamie wasn't taking away dreams... just belief in the Guardians. He could only watch helplessly as they were zapped of their magical energy. Like Jack, he got more power from belief but he didn't rely on it to sustain his own power. Sandy floated towards the room where Jack was; he and Jack were the only ones left with the strength to take Jamie on... and Jack... like Bunny had said... he wasn't going to like this. Sandy worried that the winter spirit wouldn't be up for this; after seeing how he'd reacted at just learning who was behind all of this... Jack had been broken. Sandy looked sadly at his young friend. How had things come to this? How could one boy harbor so much hatred against someone he loved? Sandy couldn't understand it. Not that he was immune to love or any such thing, but he had never really found someone to love like that himself and while he'd admired those he'd given dreams to from affair he'd never really considered the possibility of love himself. None of them had really, well except perhaps Tooth who had seemed initially over the moon for Jack when he'd been first chosen as a Guardian. That hadn't lasted though and Jack hadn't really been that interested or at least he hadn't seemed to be; Jack, he wagered, was as innocent in knowing about what love was all about as much as the Guardian of Dreams seemed to be. Well, he knew OF it... but knowing of love and feeling it were two very different things. Sandy had seen the differences, even if he'd never felt the actual emotion himself. He knew that Jack cared deeply for the boy; perhaps a lot more than he should... All he could do now was wait for Jack to wake up again. He felt so tired himself... maybe a nap wouldn't hurt...


	5. What Happened That Day

Jack stared up at the ceiling. This had to be some horrific nightmare or... something. Jamie... his Jamie. It simply couldn't be possible. Sure Jamie had been a little different those last years... a little distant even, but there was no way he could hate that much... He'd seen pure hatred in those eyes and he couldn't stand it. Why did Jamie hate him so much? What had he ever done to deserve hatred from his best friend? Jack didn't have the strength or piece of mind to sigh though he felt he should. It was like someone had sat down on his chest after beating him senseless. The pressure of his heart was like no other that he'd ever felt in his entire existence and his head hurt something fierce. Throbbing like someone was inside of his head beating a large drum. What was he going to do? He couldn't ever hurt Jamie... not Jamie... his best friend... the bright boy who had been his first believer... his first friend in three hundred years... his... Jack turned over on the bed and grabbed a trash bin. He was violent ill for the next couple moments. He lay there, trembling once it was over. He took slow, steady breaths like he knew he should... oh God... it hurt... all of him... he felt like he was going to be sick again but instead he merely went to the bathroom and washed his mouth out in the sink to get the bitter taste from his mouth. He looked in the mirror, he still looked the same and he wasn't visibly shaking but he felt like he should be as hollow blue eyes stared back at him in the mirror. How had things come to this? He didn't understand it. Jamie hadn't shown any sign of it before he'd died... how had Jamie known he'd be brought back? Why did the teen's final words to him now suddenly seem so chilling? _How did I not see this?_ He thought to himself as he lay there on the bed, he felt like his body was too heavy to move even though he had moved just moments ago. He noticed that someone else was in the room with him. _Sandy._ He gently tried to rouse the other Guardian, but the little man slept on; Jack let him sleep. He got up and headed for the globe room, the sight that greeted him struck his heart. A tiny Bunny, as Jack had remembered him that fateful Easter night, sat next to Tooth who just stared up at the globe. North was sitting in a plush chair that had been pulled up for him.

"No." He didn't even realize he'd spoken, didn't see their eyes turn to his as he stared at the globe that was now dark. No more believers... no one to see him... no one to... Somehow he had to fix this... Jack didn't know how he would. How he could even begin to. His heart throbbed something fierce.

"I'm so sorry." The words tumbled out of him as tears began falling, he turned to the others who looked at him sadly.

"No mate. It's not your fault."

"But it is... I..." Jack's breath hitched in his throat and before he could stop himself it all came out in a rush. That day he'd gone to Jamie that had begun like any other...

Jamie grinned as he saw Jack fly into his room, it had changed over the years as he'd grown but one thing had remained constant. His belief in Jack and the other Guardians.

"Jack!"

"Hey Jamie! Man you've grown over the summer! You're taller than me now!" Jamie chuckled.

"Yeah, guess I have grown a little." Jack tilted his head when the teen shifted his gaze away from his. What was the boy trying to hide? He'd never known Jamie to hide anything from him and up until today the boy had always greeted him with a hug.

"Jamie... what's wrong?" Jamie looked over, startled.

"Wrong?"

"You always gave me a hug, but you didn't when I came in just now." He saw the seriousness in the other's eyes and he leaned intently on his staff; his normally joking demeanor falling instantly.

"Jamie?"

"Jack... you and I... we've been friends forever haven't we?"

"Yeah."

"You told me, once... I could tell you anything." Jack simply nodded.

"I have told you everything... except... Jack, I've fallen in love with you." Jack had been prepared for anything or so he thought. His eyes widened.

"Wh- what?"

"I just noticed it when you last left... I... wanted so badly for you to stay with me. I thought at first it was just because you've been like an older brother to me, but this summer I discovered that wasn't it when I talked to Pippa. She asked me if I had a girlfriend or something and I told her it wasn't like that, but then I began to realize it was. You were all I could think about. Even as I was out with friends, enjoying the break of school and the warmth... I still longed to see you and snow. To feel the cold wind. I can't tell you when the fantasies began... but they did. Somewhere between my realizing I felt more for you than a brother and thinking about how ridiculous it was to wish for snow on a summer's day that was just right for a picnic." He shook his head and gave Jack a small smile.

"That is the only thing I have ever kept from you, simply because you weren't here to talk to; I... I thought it was a passing phase, that maybe I was just in love with the idea of you." Jack stayed silent.

"I talked with Cupcake about it, knowing she'd understand with her fascination with boybands... but talking to her only confirmed I wasn't just in love with the idea of you. I just didn't know how you felt." Jack felt himself reeling in surprise for the longest moment. Jamie simply stared at him and he realized the boy was waiting for some form of an answer. Jack closed his eyes a moment and considered things before he opened his eyes again.

"I'm sorry Jamie... I... I can't. It can't work out."

"I know I'll die someday, but Jack... please..."

"I'm sorry... the others... they'd never accept this and... I just can't."

"Is this because of their rules?"

"No... but... the rules aren't wrong. Please try to understand." He couldn't believe what he was hearing. Jack wouldn't even give it a chance... He just stared at the one who had been his best friend for so long... He felt numb inside. Jack stared at him a moment before giving him a sad look.

"Don't give me that look. Jamie... I'm sorry... this is the way it has to be."

"You see... it was all back then... the look he gave me... I... I guess he never got over the heartbreak of it. I'm sorry guys... I was just doing what you told me was right... about not being so attached... about not falling in love..." The tears continued and blurred his vision. None of the others could offer comfort to the broken winter spirit who had simply been doing as he'd been told; who had told the truth to the one person he'd hated hurting and now, it seemed, they were all suffering for it. Jack was suffering most of all. His best believer, his strongest, most devoted, most precious and best friend... his brother... had turned on them all. Out of selfish spite that had come from a bitterly broken heart.


	6. Deal with a Nightmare

He couldn't stand seeing his friends like this. He had to do something... he was the only one who could. Without believers... his friends were nothing more than a sleeping star, a grounded fairy woman, a tiny bunny and an old man... He'd thought maybe Sandy would be the one out of all of them to not be able to be affected... to maybe be like him but it didn't seem that was the case anymore. Only Jack was able to do anything at all. _I can't let things end like this... I have to face him... before things get any worse._ He still wasn't sure how things had gotten this bad to begin with. Where did he start? He left the pole without a word, he knew the other would try and talk him out of it but he knew the truth of things; if he didn't stop J- ... then who would? He couldn't even think of his name without his chest tightening painfully. If there was a hell... this had to be it. Jack was sure that if anyone could make things right again it would be him. Jack decided the only way to find him would be to start with the places he remembered them hanging out at. The house was a bust... maybe the apartment? No signs there either... His pond? Nope. His friends' places? No... no... No... all five places turned up the grown friends but no... what was he calling himself? He'd heard a child whisper it that night he'd found out the truth... Necro. It was easier to think that then... He shook the thoughts away as he searched. Where could he be? He visited the homes of the other Guardians, but each of those proved nothing but grim reminders of how things were now. Maybe Pitch? Would... could the Boogeyman help? Yes, but would he... ? Jack flew straight for the entrance he knew existed. It was just as he remembered, dark, dank, a little spooky and confusing as heck from top to bottom with every twist and turn. He had no idea if Pitch would be receptive of him or not.

"PITCH!" No answer. Jack floated over the dark globe he knew Pitch used to keep an eye on belief, similar to North's but inverse in its overall design. Jack wondered where Pitch could be.

"Frost." Jack whipped around to face the throne only to find the shade lounging there; cold amber eyes meeting his.

"Pitch..."

"What are you doing here? I'd have thought you'd be out protecting your believers... oh wait, you don't have anymore do you?" Jack grit his teeth.

"I didn't come for a fight."

"Oh?" He shifted from his lazy position to one leaning forward.

"I... need your help. I have to find Necro."

"What makes you think I'd help you?"

"Considering he's targeted your believers just as he has mine I'd think you'd want him gone..."

"And _you_ are planning on doing it? Why the sudden change of heart Frost? Isn't he your most **precious** believer?"

"Jamie..." It hurt to say his name.

"died long ago... that... thing, isn't Jamie." Pitch regarded Jack a long while.

"Why should I help you? You who tear through my Nightmares without regard for their work."

"Things won't get better with Necro in control of things. you know you can't hope to match him yourself. Much as I hate to say this... we _need_ one another right now." Pitch narrowed his eyes.

"What makes you think **I** need _you_?" Jack gave a mirthless laugh, startling the Boogeyman; he didn't know that Jack, the Guardian of _Fun_ , was capable of such a thing. He could sense Jack's fear for his friends... his believers, even for... Now wasn't that interesting? He still held some fear for Jamie, the boy he **hoped** was somewhere in that monster still. Pitch regarded the frozen child thoughtfully. His Nightmares were starving and he barely kept the Fearlings in check as it was. Like the Guardians, he had changed slightly with the times as fears had changed... The King of Nightmares, however, was irked to find his Nightmares were no longer affecting even children for that **brat** had twisted belief so that even the galaxy feared being was as helpless as a newborn! The Fearlings would not be happy long to listen to him if he could not feed them. Much as he despised this, as they were fond of saying in this day and age... 'desperate times called for desperate measures.'

"I can only imagine how desperate they must be to send you..."

"No one sent me." So Jack had come of his own accord? This could prove to be useful information for another time... Perhaps Jack, who had saved them years before, would prove to be the key he needed to tear the Guardians apart... Yes! First... however... he needed to get Jack to trust him. Ugh. That meant playing... nice.

"Well? Are you going to help or not?"

"Impatient aren't you? Very well. I will help you and until this is... settled, we need agree on terms of our truce, however temporary."

"Right, which means you can't attack the Guardians or the children until this is all over." Pitch frowned. He couldn't simply agree to that. Not only would it be suspicious but Jack might question the why and he didn't want Jack to perceive him as vulnerable.

"I won't harm the Guardians by any means during this time of truce."

"And the children?" He paused, then gave a deep sigh as if relenting.

"Will be safe from any Nightmares."

"And?"

"And any other of my minions. You really are quite thorough aren't you?" Jack nodded, his gaze serious; it looked... odd, on the winter spirit.

"In return, you'll be able to go where I can go until the end of the truce without being attacked."

"How are you going to ensure that?"

"I'll have to tell the other Guardians, but all things considered I don't think they'll object too highly; especially not to the terms we've just agreed upon." Pitch nodded and moved over to Jack, holding out his hand.

"Then let this be binding, as to the terms we have agreed upon; that our word be sealed in power to keep the other from harm lest the pact should be broken. By accident or design." Jack hesitated only a second before taking the other's hand and he felt a jolt as the shadows merged with sparks of his electrical frost; both let go at the same time.

"Now then, the deal is set."

"I'll inform the other Guardians of this, your only part is to locate Necro."

"Are you that certain you can take him down on your own?"

"No... but I want to try to reason with him first... if I can't do that... Well, I'll cross that bridge when I get there won't I?" Pitch wondered how a spirit who was forever trapped as a boy could seem so very old suddenly. Just how old WAS Jack? Could he be older than the few hundred years the other had perceived him to be? Jack knew, as he flew back to the pole to speak with the others that they weren't going to be happy about this... but... what choice did they have? There was a saying, after all... the enemy of my enemy is my friend... Okay, so Pitch wasn't a friend really and probably never would be even after all of this was over. That didn't mean that he couldn't be useful or that he couldn't help... although trust was something else altogether. Pitch had proved to be devious and deceitful all without ever actually lying. He could twist anything to his own benefit if he saw an opening somewhere... anywhere. He had caused Jack to not be back to the Warren on time simply by playing on both his desire to get his memories back and his fears on what the other Guardians would think of him for it. He had tricked Jack into his lair and had delayed him more than long enough for the Nightmares to have attacked the tunnels and destroy all the hard work that the four of them had done in an attempt to restore belief. The loss of Easter had been bad, real bad. Belief, Jack had learned that Easter, was a very fragile thing but it could be very strong too. A thought sent a shudder through the winter spirit. It had been because of him that Jamie had continued to believe in the Guardians despite everything Pitch had done to snuff them out... what if, because of his rejection of Jamie... he ended up destroying his family? He raced towards the pole even faster; the thought didn't sit well with him at all. He'd never be able to forgive himself if that ever came true...


	7. Confronting the Nightmare

"He's here." Pitch pointed to a spot on the globe. Jack nodded.

"Thanks."

"Don't thank me just yet Frost." Jack stared at him.

"What are you... are you saying you're double crossing me?"

"Far from it, but do you even know what you're doing?" Jack nodded.

"I'm confronting a mistake." Before the shade could speak further, Jack was off. Pitch easily followed the frost spirit; after all Jack's fears were the loudest at the moment so it wasn't hard to pinpoint where he was. It would have been faster through shadow travel but Pitch was no fool; Jack wouldn't trust him that far and so the other would get to the area he'd indicated the hard way... which would take slightly longer than normal. Jack had to swallow when he saw him. Sitting in a tree, one leg dangling off the branch, the other brought up against him with his arms hooked around it; hood thrown back, face lifted towards the pale light of the moon. His heart throbbed somewhat fiercely... _What have I done?_ He thought for the umpth time as he slowly floated towards the teen he had thought he had known.

"Jamie." The other's eyes snapped open and he shifted to meet the icy blue eyes he had been thinking about. He had been lost in the past... in what might have been and what was... The expressionless stare he got made Jack hesitate but he pushed his fears back as he slowly moved forward.

"I haven't gone by that name in a while."

"I know, but..." What was he doing? Was he nuts? Necro almost shook his head at Jack's foolishness. Jack flinched at the banked hate he saw in the other's eyes. It made his heart clench.

"We... we were friends once."

"Once."

"Why did that have to change? Why did _you_?" Necro offered no answer for that. Honestly, he had asked himself that thousands of times before he'd confessed his feelings.

"I gave you every chance even before I confessed. What did you do? Nothing. Then when I finally lost it and confessed you tossed it back at me like my feelings didn't matter."

"I... I'm so sorry... I really am."

"Not as sorry as you will be." Jack's hand clenched tighter to his staff.

"Why? Why... why can't you just let them be?"

"I have. I haven't done a thing to them."

"You know what I mean!"

"Oh yes, you mean the belief thing... I've begun to change that too. Let's face it, I don't really hate them. Not like you." Jack quivered. He really did...

"I... I never meant for this... Jamie I... I was wrong to do what I did... to say those things to you even if they were true at the time." No response. Pitch simply watched the two from a distance, so the boy had changed the belief again had he? Well, that made things a mite difficult, but he'd deal with the others soon enough. He couldn't help the small smile on his face though, watching Jack suffer in the face of the boy who had once been so precious to him, whom he had once fought so hard to protect was now fighting against him.

"You can't keep doing this! You have to stop Jamie! I... I can't let you do this! I love you!" Jack burst out. There was a long moment of silence.

"Too little too late Jack. I don't love you anymore." Jack visibly shuddered, tears falling.

"What do you want from me?!" He nearly shuddered again at the smile on the others face.

"Nothing. I just want you to suffer as I suffered." Jack stared, wide eyed as tears fell. He was too late... he couldn't... he clenched the staff in front of him. Quiet sobs raking his form as he stared at his most precious believer... the one who had given him everything and now had taken it all away.

"I-if... th-that's what it t-takes..." Pitch frowned, this was different. Anger blazed in Jack's eyes and the frost lightning leapt from his staff towards the other who blocked it with sand. Pitch moved forward and Nightmares surged forward to clash.

"You too huh? Figures." Necro smirked at Pitch who just scowled, the three of them danced about the streets, sand and ice flying as the two tried to subdue their common enemy.

"You two really think you can stop me?!"

"You monster!" Jack cried out, but that only caused Necro to smile more; Jack's tears hadn't ceased and he had to force it all... he was in agony... and Necro only seemed to relish it and Jack felt sick. Where was the boy he'd once taken on an awesome sled ride? Who had stood up to the Nightmare King when all hope seemed lost? Who had refused to give in? As the battle went on the three began to tire; none of them could keep this up and while it was two against one it seemed that Necro's sand was enough to keep both Pitch's and Jack's frost at bay. How, Jack wasn't sure he wanted to know or even dared think about really as he sent a barrage of spears of ice at the other only for them to embed into a wall of sand that was half black half gold. It was weird, really, seeing gold sand mix with black without being corrupted. Was this part of the power of belief? Being able to use the sand without either one being affected by the other as had been the case that fateful Easter? Pitch leapt away from a barrage of golden arrows and fired one back himself but it was blocked by a shield of golden sand. It wasn't long before Jack realized the battle had taken the three of them to Jack's pond... where Jamie had once stood as Jack had taken the oath, inspired to do so by the boy who had been his first believer... He still couldn't believe that the boy who had meant everything had become... this.

"Why?! Why!" Jack cried out with his entire being as he formed an ice sword to counter the sand when the staff was knocked from his grasp. He didn't need it to fight; he just prefered it because of the sentimental value that it held for him and it acted as a conduit for his powers though he could easily fight and use his power without it. Something he'd learned after Pitch had snapped it in half. While it had hurt, it hadn't killed him, after all, it wasn't the source of his power; it was just a weapon when he needed it to be but it was also just a simple object too when it wasn't filled with his power. Necro didn't answer as Pitch was sent flying back into a tree, he seemed to be out of comission for a brief moment and Jack surged forward blindly. Torn beyond what he'd felt even when he'd first been walked through... beyond when he'd realized he was unable to be seen... heard... that he was alone... There was an opening and Jack took it without thinking... but when the sand fell away from around the two of them Jack's eyes widened when it suddenly dawned on him what he had just done...

"N-no..." It wasn't supposed to happen this way! It wasn't supposed to end like this... it wasn't supposed to... but he stumbled back as he watched the crimson liquid trickle down the blade to his hand... He released the blade and it disappeared, but the wound he'd inflicted did not. Necro didn't stumble, he simply fell forward. Jack caught him.

"Oh God... Jamie... I... I didn't mean to...!"

"Yes you did."

"No.. no no no... I would... couldn't... Jamie... oh God..." A soft smile touched the teen spirit's lips.

"Please no...y-you can't..."

"You still don't get it... this is my final revenge. My final gift to you." Jack's eyes widened as he stared down at the boy who had been his believer... who had made himself an enemy...

"Live. Knowing... you did it... and one more thing..." Jack's vision blurred, wishing he could take it all back... go back to that single day and say something different... do something different... anything that wouldn't lead to this.

"I lied earlier."

"Jamie..."

"Despite what you did to me. I... still love you..."

"Jamie... oh Jamie..." He sobbed now, though the sound was muffled a moment as Jamie pushed himself up and claimed Jack's mouth with his own.

"I belong to you alone... now and always..." Jack clutched to the form that went limp. Pitch stood several feet away, simply watching the scene unfold before him. The boy had planned it all. Years of planning... He had to hand it to him. All he had ever tried to do to break the Guardians, to get to them and to Jack... It had taken a single boy to bring them all to their knees.

"Jamie... please... don't leave me... I love you..." Jack's sobs were like music to his ears and Pitch knew this would have been the perfect time to strike, but something was holding him back. He wasn't certain what it was for the longest moment then he noticed it was the sand around him. He frowned. The boy had never hesitated to fight, but he had never hurt Jack... the boy had been weak but even now that "weak" boy was protecting Jack. The residue sand the boy had been using was keeping him back, weighing him down and holding him in place. How this was he didn't know but with an inward growl he pulled back from Jack and headed back to his lair; leaving the frost spirit to grieve alone. There was no knowing how long he sat there, crying; before he was able to force himself up, holding Jamie close to him. He looked so peaceful... something he hadn't seemed to achieve in his first death really. Why had this had to happen? He'd been such a fool... had wasted so much time... With a heart that felt like it would never see the sun again, he flew to the pole. The other four stared at Jack with wide eyes when they saw him move in the shadows. At first it was fear in their eyes until they saw it was him and the prone form he carried. The look in his eyes said a million words and, with tears in their eyes, they gathered around Jack without hesitation and grieved with the winter spirit. None of them spoke, words weren't needed to communicate what they wanted to say at that moment to one another, to Jack... about the boy who had once been everything... and had become what they never would have imagined. He had begun their end... but even with him against them it seemed that he couldn't complete whatever he had set out to do in the first place. It wasn't really clear to them what he had set out to do when they found out that he had reversed what he'd done to them... Had he really meant to destroy them or was it something else altogether? Only Jack really seemed to know and he wasn't talking. He barely said two words since that night... the fun-loving winter spirit who had survived centuries of loneliness and still managed to be happy-go-lucky was gone. He still created snow days. He still brought children happiness and when Pitch rose again he still fought against the Boogeyman with all he had... but he almost never smiled anymore... at least not a genuine one. He seemed even more distant from them than before... like he had suddenly become out of their reach. They could never understand what Jamie had meant to him because none of them had ever fallen in love. None of them had known what the loss of the boy meant to Jack and as the years passed and he continued to keep a silent vigilance over the memorial at his pond that had been set up for Jamie, they began to lose the hope that they would ever have their friend back the way he had been when they had first offered him the chance to join them. To be a Guardian. Belief in all of the Guardians returned to what it had been, as if Necro had never existed. No one seemed to remember, not even those who had been Jack's believers and while he regained them they had noticed too that he wasn't the same. As time continued on, whispers of Jack would float along the night's air... about how on a quiet winter's night if one listened hard enough, they could hear the quiet crying of a spirit who had lost it all.


End file.
